Magnum Hunter to move from Houston to Dallas

By Ryan HoleywellHouston Chronicle

Published 1:55 pm, Monday, August 18, 2014

HOUSTON — Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., the Houston-based exploration and production company, will move its corporate headquarters to Dallas around the end of the year, the company announced this week.

The company also said it will consolidate its accounting office based in Grapevine, a suburb of Dallas, into its new corporate headquarters.

Chairman and CEO Gary C. Evans said in a statement that the company had been considering the move for more than a year.

Magnum Hunter sold its Eagle Ford assets in April 2013 for $400 million, and because its growth is focused on the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale in West Virginia and Ohio — and no longer South Texas — it didn’t make sense to have offices in both the Houston and Dallas areas, Evans said.

Evans said the move would help the company gain synergies by having all of its corporate personnel in one building and would also save money on travel expenses.

Magnum Hunter is reviewing office space available for lease in the Las Calinas area in suburban Dallas, he said.

A company spokesman said Magnum Hunter has about 50 employees in the Houston area. That figure includes 25 employees at Eureka Hunter Pipeline, a subsidiarity of Magnum Hunter that will remain in Houston.

As of Jan. 31, the company had 445 full-time employees, according toannual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Earlier this year, Magnum Hunter announced plans to sell $150 million of common stock shares to a private investor to help fund an expansion of its activity in the Marcellus and Utica Shales.

The company’s strategy focuses on acquiring distressed assets and securing the financing needed to improve their output. It’s also active in the Bakken.